Community volunteers prepare for arrival of Communities in Bloom judges

Everything is coming up roses this week for Trail Community in Bloom as they await the Sunday arrival of the program’s international judges.

Rolling through town until Saturday is the Telus Care-a-Van team, hosting events and asking Silver City residents to become part of its Communities in Bloom (CiB) fundraiser for the Trail group.

The company’s symbolic “family tree” will be at various locations, today from 8 a.m. until noon at Trail Coffee & Tea Company with TELUS reps handing out coffee and treats.

Besides free goodies, they’ll be giving each person the opportunity to raise $10 for the Trail CiB program by attaching his/her name on a branch of the donation tree.

“To make a lasting impact, we’ll be donating to Communities in Bloom before leaving town,” says Caitlin Hall from Telus media relations, mentioning the money will be given during Saturday’s Customer Appreciation Lunch in Rossland. “Just how much we donate is up to the locals.”

Those savvy with social media, are asked to like and share the Telus Facebook post describing the campaign. Each like will up the company’s donation by $5 to a maximum donation of $5,000.

That’s great news for the Trail volunteer-run program, as members continue clean up along the highway, planting near the White Garden in Jubilee Park and pulling weeds in anticipation of the judging, which happens on Monday.

“We are asking people to clean up their streets, make sure there is no grass coming out of their sidewalks, cut their grass and trim the boulevard in front of their house,” explained Trail volunteer Lana Rodlie. “And to pick up any garbage they see lying around, just try to get things spruced up.”

She suggests parents involve children in fostering of civic pride by visiting local parks to clean up garbage and pick up discarded recyclables.

“We would like adults to help clean up along the highway this week but that’s not the place for kids,” she noted. “Best for people to stick in their neighbourhoods and make sure the parks are spiffy. That would be really helpful.”

Providing the city’s new trees with some extra water would be another beneficial action for the younger volunteers, Rodlie added.

“If they could give all those newly planted trees along the Esplanade and elsewhere an extra drink of water, that would be really nice,” she explained. “A lot of those trees are not on the regular watering systems and it’s just so hot they are getting stressed.”

This is the city’s 13th season with the national CiB program which presents between one and five “blooms” based on tidiness, heritage preservation, environmental conservation, florals, landscaping and urban forestry.

Last year Trail entered the international competition and maintained five blooms as well as a Landscape Award win, which means the city has one of the best landscaped areas in Canada.

Trail is participating in the National Edition of Communities in Bloom and listed as a medium-sized competitor in the International Challenge alongside Ahogill, Northern Ireland UK, Estes Park, Colorado, and Alberta’s cities of Jasper and Stettler.

This year’s judges are two Canadians. Lorna McIlroy is a retired teacher and horticulturist from Grande Prairie, AB and Ted Zarundy, a nursery/garden centre owner from Orangeville, ON.

The National and International results will be announced in Kamloops from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 as part of the annual National Symposium on Parks and Grounds.

For information and to volunteer, contact TiB chair Dan Rodlie at 368.9227 or email danrodlie@yahoo.com.